so oakey and sweet. this beer is a bit of a mess, but put it together with some barrel aging and it is really satisfying. super malty sweet... a pleasant alcohol burn and the nice cherry tartness to wrap it all up. i am pretty happy i stumbled onto this one. THANKS WIDMER BROS!

pours a syrupy molasses and foams up a finger high head. the smell is very enticing and aromatic: malty sweet but also some pepper and chocolate in the nose. the sweetness and the cherries and oak and hop bitterness make the flavor profile very complex. you could read it many ways. there is something a little rough and unfinished about it...

the mouthfeel is excellent... and i could push the drinkability up a little.... this is a really REALLY good beer. hereby looking out for more W BROS RESERVE! excellent.

Dark brown color with some bronze highlights; head jumps up in the glass to about two inches. Taupe in color, this recedes quickly but still provides a lot of lacing. Nose is nondescript malty, with toffee and caramel but nothing approaching interesting. Cherry? Oak? Nope.

The flavor initially hits with a rather horrendous metallic twang, however, as the carbonation breathes it is much improved. The oakiness is prevalent throughout the the cherries drop in on the finish. Otherwise a fairly sweet affair: dark fruit, hints of vanilla, and slightly sour-metallic. Bready and boozy.

The carbonation, as mentioned, was way too much initially, and the thinness pervades. Body evens out to about medium, but I do expect a little more from my doppelbocks. Not bad.

Poured a murky cider brown with a slight red tinge into a tulip with a thin film of off-white head. Very sweet aroma of toffee, bread, cherry, vanilla, and a hint of apple.

Moderate carbonation and a creamy but slightly thin mouthfeel. Initially not as sweet as the aroma had indicated with lots of toast and caramel followed by a touch of vanilla and lots of cherry and toffee sweetness on the finish. Not much bitterness to be detected and just a touch of alcohol heat on the finish.

Some pleasant elements in the aroma and flavor, but this brew was just too sweet and muddled for my palate. To be fair, I don't think aging the bottle for two years did it any favors, as I was detecting a little cardboard/oxidation mixed in.

Pours a dense, somewhat ruddy dark brown with a small amount of thin tan head.

Nose is all about milk chocolate-covered cherry cordials. Fresh cream comes to mind with a little vanilla extract and some coffee au lait.

Palate is a little more tart than I remember it being 9 months ago. Rich yet crisp. Flavors are of black cherry and chocolate caramel. Creamy oak/vanilla and subtle sudsy carbonation. Finish is long and pleasant.

Notes: A great dessert beer. I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's exactly what it sounds like in a wonderful way! Really impressed for this brewery.

A: pours reddish brown with little to no head. S: cherry and nutty caramel maltT: almost too cherry, a bit of oak, malt is sweet. did over pour and got some sediment. cherry is a good bock addition but not this over powering. M: lingers a while, carbonation is low.D: its alright. way too much cherry, wont buy again.

Craft beer is stepping it up--more breweries are producing oaked, fruit-flavored, big beers that come in special packaging, but we know all the proof is in the pudding regardless of what a brewery can come up with.

Dark, alluring garnet-brown color; stiff lacing holds well on the glass. Subtle aroma of sweet cherries and a thick maltiness. Big, thick body lumbers around; sweetness is every- where, but mellow. Hint of cherry juice and a dull pucker of oak present. A little bready and a little bit of caramel in the back. Slight herbal kick from the hops. Alcohol is tame for 9 percent--the warmth is pervasive. Really, with each sip, this whole beer opens up more. Sweet finish, with a quick flash of dark brown sugar.

You can dress a beer up and put it in a fancy box, but at the end of the day, all that mat- ters is what is in the bottle. Widmer prevails with this stellar brew. Kudos to the brothers.

Pours from the bomber a dark mahogany color with a thin layer of off-white head. Aromas of dark cherries, caramel malt and various dark sugars. On the palate, slightly syrupy, medium bodied, with flavors of sweet malt, light brown sugar, cherries and oak.

Purchased a bottle in November 2009, and have been aging it in the cellar since then. Shared with my wife tonight and poured into two stemmed glasses. Dark garnet red color, with a small tan head. Some lacing on the glass. Tiny traces of sediment at the bottom of the glass. Smell was quite woody and cherry-like. I liked the flavor of this beer very much. There a nice tartness from the cherries, but also a nice oak flavor from the wood aging. Mouthfeel was not bad, which probably was helped a bit from the time in the cellar. Although, there was a somewhat syrupy feeling that lingered on the palate. Drinkability was good, but I am glad that I aged this beer a bit based on other reviews.

taste a fairly oaky upfront taste, which fades to the cherries and the alcohol. I think this is a beer that would benefit from some aging to help meld the oak and cherry flavors, as well as tone back the alcohol presence.

mouthfeel- to sweet, has a syrupy consistency that I could not get past

Nose is thick toffee malts, light fruit and some definite oakiness. Touch of vanilla as it warms. Smells more like an Old Ale than a doppel at this point.

Taste has lots of toasty and sweet malts. Big oak flavors and the addition of cherries is notable, though I would certainly not mind a bit more. The malt character is big, and conforms somewhat to the doppelbock style. Alcohol is there aplenty, but does not thin out the beer much. I like where Widmer was going with this beer, but not sure the final result is much to my liking. Tough for me to get through and that was with splitting the bottle with someone.

Bottle shared by the other Matt, perhaps my expectations were high, but I really don't think they were, I eventually decided that I would rather pour this beer out than finish it.

Beer is brown and forms a thin head of brownish bubbles. It leaves a little, very little lacing on the glass. Carbonation is moderate to low. Looks fine.

Aroma is malty, sweet, and has a definite cherry aroma, this is what they want I'm sure, it smells fine.

Beer is way too sweet. The sweetness is immediately followed up by a strong cherry flavor, like cough syrup. Its rough, very rough. I drank about 5 ounces, and I could have finished it, I just didn't want to. There are too many good beers out there to waste time on a mediocre one. Beer is medium bodied, uncarbonated in the mouth, finishes sweet....I wouldn't have ti again.

Appearance 4.0Ruddy red color, very dark. Slim tan head with nice lacing on the glass. When held to a light, the red is a very deep black cherry color.

Aroma 4.5Strong aroma of cherry and oak. Cherry smell is very tart and stiff. Oak is warmer.

Taste 4.0I really enjoy the flavor of this beer. They've done a nice job of covering up the high ABV. Taste is strong, tart cherry. First bottle was very strong and tart. Every bottle since, the cherry seems to be growing much more subtle and the oak is coming out more along with a very malty flavor. This is a beer that seems to be aging nicely but was very harsh in it's tartness to begin.

Mouthfeel 3.5Nice and thick. Low carbonation. Once again, beer is improving with age. My first bottle was decent. I'm on my 8th or 9th bottle and the tartness has milded and the oak and malt has grown more present.

Drinkability 3.0Alcohol is on the higher side. Can't taste it while drinking it but it will really nail you afterwards. Cherry is very tart. I'm a fan of cherries so this is a fun and unusual beer. I can understand why many reviewers however have not liked it. You've really got to like tart cherries to find this drinkable.

Bottle #1 from my shipment from mrvitaminman.com (AleWatcher goes into a .5L Weinhenstephan dimpled mug. This is from Blind Beers Rnd 2. This review is totally blind.

A- Sep0909 stamped on the neck. A purpleish ruddy red color. Like really, really concentrated tea. A thick khaki head rises and puts up an excellent fight.

S- Smells very malty and sweet. Lots of raisin, fig and black cherries. Its smelling like an English Barleywine or a Quad, but is a much smaller beer than both of those. That and the mug suggestion make me I wanna say its a dopplebock that has been given special treatment.

T- Wow, this is great stuff. Lots, and I mean LOTS of raisin, fig and cherry with some oakiness tagging along. There is a flash of chocolate at the finish that is similar to a tootsie roll. Wildly smooth tasting.

M- Full bodied for sure. Carbonation is low but the beer is not suffering from it at all.

D- The ABV is pretty jacked up on this one. I can feel it on the finish, but I seriously dig this beer. Its going down way too fast.

A: Pours a rich dark mahogany red with a thin brown head that reduced into a thick collar around the glass that left streaks of wispy lace. Fine chunks of sediment come out with the last pour.S: Musty notes of wood, oak and old cherries come through along with an overall doughy yeast odor. T: Full flavors of thick dark cherries, dark fruits, and dark malts with an overall musty woody flavor. Cherries are almost syrupy, but not synthetic. Malt is bready and alcohol is well hidden. Finish is full of dark fruits like figs, dates and ripe grapes, and there is just a hint of sourness. Aftertaste is almost that of a quad. Hardly any hops are present. M: After a high amount of initial carbonation this beer become rather smooth and creamy. There is still some spritzy tingly carbonation over the full body, but it's pleasant none the less.D: I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I'm not a huge fan of Widmer or Doppelbocks, but this one was pretty good. I never had it fresh, but I think a year of age did this beer some good.

Deep brown, cloudy, minimal head. Massive bottle filled my pilsener to the rim. Smell is of molasses sweet malt and a hint of alcohol. Fruity doppelbock essence, cherries sneaking into the picture. Taste is classic doppelbock fruity, sugary, chocolatey malt with a ring of cherries, especially in the aftertaste. Smoky around the edges. Very good doppelbock feel, medium/heavy body, mild carbonation riding the front with the sweet malt. One and done on this one, but a very pleasant experience overall.

pretty attractive mahogany hued beer with some murky brown qualities that gives a disappointing light tan head that quickly recedes to a small film which leaves traces on the glass.

a bit of cherry candy infiltrates a malty (mostly toffee with some molasses and caramel) aroma thats pretty boring, actually.

a boring doppelbock cannot be enhanced too much by aging it in barrels with cherries, it would seem. the flavor is not as exciting as the idea. toffee, caramel, and molasses with a bit of artificially sweet cherry flavor. a tiny, tiny bit of vanilla and oak from the barrel aging can be detected if you look for it, but falls short in improving the experience. a bit of alcohol is detected on the back end. reminds me a lot of cherry throat drops and caramel candies.

a medium bodied but overly syrupy body only works to accentuate the "candy cherry" or artificial tasting flavors we have working here.

eh. goes down average, maybe. unlike most well-crafted brews, this one gets worse as it warms, and worse as it ages perhaps. This one is almost a year old, yet the flavors still dont quite mesh well. I like tart cherry flavors in some beers, I enjoy doppelbocks, I actually enjoyed Widmer's Prickly Pear Braggot, so when I saw this one marked down to $5, I grabbed it.... I will probably pass on it next time.

Looks: explanatory. The color of the liquid is conveyed in the name of the beer: dark cherry red fading into a lighter oak orange-brown. Slightly hazy, my fingers on the other side of the glass become blurred. A half-inch head of tightly-packed dark ginger quickly fizzles to a mere ring, leaving tiny vertical tracks on the sides as I drink.

Smells: bright. Tart cherries, sherry, orange sauce, a bit of vinegar. A very subtle funkiness lingers in the background, adding some interest.

Tastes: much maltier than expected. The cherry and oaken notes take a backseat to the doppelbock; the base beer has control here. The cherries surge, hinting that they may yet impart a sour blast, but never seem to follow through, the remnants of the attempt lingering as a wimpy tang on the back of the tongue. The oak, however, is an interesting foil, lending subtle vanilla notes to the sweeter malt and almost-tangy cherries. Mostly, however, it's toasty cereal grain, sweet caramel, and alcohol.

Feels: substantial. A medium body and a medium-low carbonation lend themselves to the rest of the beer well. Alcohol comes blaring through the nostrils and is noticeable on the tongue as well.

Drinks: A far better offering than the last Brother's Reserve beer I tried, for its style Cherry Oak Doppelbock isn't half bad. A little more of both cherry and oak would improve this one tremendously.

Pours a nice brownish color, some carbonation, little fizzy off-white head, with some sticky lacing left behind. The nose is malty, with some nice cherry notes, and spices. The taste is sweet, malty, nice cherry note, slight tangyness, with some spice note. Medium body. Drinkable, this is a pretty tasty brew, glad to have gotten a chance to try it.

A - deep mahogany in color with chesnutt brown highlights. the head disapates, but tiny bubbles rise up around the rim. not much lacingS - the cherry is in there, but its subtle. vanilla? a little boozeT - black cherry flavor that builds as it warms. not overpowering, but also not much other depth, just one note that isn't that greatM - a little thinner than expected, low carbonationD - fairly mellow for the strength, but the complexity is somewhat disapointing for a special limited release. wouldn't recommend it

The Widmer Reserve series arrived in Charlottesville with #2... the Braggot, and I was eager to try the Cherry Oak Doppelbock, and was disappointed to hear that it was no longer available. It was particularly pleasing to find it at State Line Liquors in MD on the way up to the beach. With the brewing date being Sept. '09 and time of consumption at Aug. 6 - 7, 2010, it places this at just about a year old which will be taken into consideration in review:

A: Rich, deep amber with a glowing reddish hue... considering the cherry influence in the beer, it is quite fitting. Head is a little lacking in terms of being at all foamy or having a retention, but it does hold onto a thin collar that leaves behind tiny spotting on the way down the glass.

S: Now to the nitty-gritty! Aroma is slightly musty, woody, and a modest syrupy malt. That's a lot of -y words in one sentence! The fruit-side is a pleasant second-place to the malts, which is a positive point, I find. It's very easy to allow the 'added ingredients' a dominant position, and this has been avoided here, allowing the flavours of the beer itself to be complemented by both the oak and the cherry.

T: Well done! As far as doppelbocks go, it leans more towards the direction of being sweet, malty, and loaded with caramel. The oak-influenced vanilla is quite apparent and, like the aroma, the cherry is modest and quite well placed. I'm not sure if a bit of age has allowed that to mellow, but if it has, it has done so beautifully. The balance is very nice, though I could see how some people could potentially find this beer to be 'too sweet.'

M + D: Mouthfeel is a little 'wetter' than I tend to expect from the style... not as syrupy and rich, which is a little surprising. A part of me would expect the fermentation with dark cherries to add a bit of a stickiness to it, but that's not an issue. In fact, drinkability verges on being dangerously high, considering the alcohol content.... it''s a rather still 9%, but does not present as such, whatsoever. Kudos to Widmer for creating a fine, balanced product that has held up with time... to cellar-keepers, I'd go so far as to suggest another months to a year on this bottle. I think it will continue to mature nicely until at least 2 years in.

I've held onto this for about a year or so thinking the reserve series would be interesting as it continues to move forward. I guess it didn't take off like I thought it would. So here we go.

A - Pours a dark brown with a beige head that leaves in about a second.

S - Sweet cherry and a hint of malt. Not much else here.

T - Cherry and cherry with a hint of malt. I don't taste the oak or much of the malt I love in a dopplebock.

M - I actually think this is the beers best feature. Nice rich low carbonation that does feel like a dopplebock.

D - Way too sweet. I think if half the cherries were taken out the beer may actually be pretty good.

Overall this is so sweet. If the cherries weren't so apparent the beer may be somewhat decent. I love dopplebocks and got really excited to try this...too bad the sweetness came from the cherries not the malt.